Mars Discovery District
Publicly funded institution · Toronto, Ontario · BN 876682717RR0001 · Foundations
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-03-31. Split of total expenditures ($31,148,297) as filed with the CRA.
Mars Discovery District is a charitable organization based in Toronto, Ontario, classified by the CRA under foundations. It appears on the charity register the way hospitals, universities, and other publicly funded bodies do — to issue tax receipts — rather than as a donation-driven charity in the usual sense. In its fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, it reported $29.2M in revenue and $31.1M in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 10% from donations, 54% from government, 8% from other charities. Government funding is the majority of its budget. In 2024, 12 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $1.7M.
Compared with 23 grantmaking institutions of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 9% of peers. Its reserves, measured in years of spending on hand, sat in the top decile of the group. Its highest-paid positions fell in the $350,000 and over range (3 positions in that band). The charity reported 177 permanent full-time positions.
Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 13 names.
In its own words
Mars (www.marsdd.com) is a leading urban innovation hub located in toronto's discovery district. Mars supports young high growth ventures in the health cleantech and information technology sectors whilst connecting customers partners talent and captial in an effort to accelerate innovation for the public at large. Mars removes barriers and facilitates the adoption of innovation in complex or regulated systems such as health and energy to open new markets in canada and elsewhere. This distinctive approach which actively connects supply (ventures) and demand (markets and systems) is deli…
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $29.2M | $31.1M | $24.4M | $472K | — | $38.3M |
| 2023 | $28.8M | $35M | $26.8M | $965K | — | $37M |
| 2022 | $34.9M | $35M | $25.8M | $936K | — | $39.2M |
| 2021 | $36.6M | $40.3M | $27M | $4.5M | — | $41.1M |
| 2020 | $38.2M | $47.4M | $34.6M | $4.3M | — | $43.5M |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Received $1.7M from 12 charities:
- The Peter Gilgan Foundation$450K
- RBC Foundation$250K
- The Trottier Family Foundation/la Fondation Familiale Trottier$175K
- Canadian Cancer Society$150K
- United Way of Greater Toronto$139K
- Canadahelps Canadon$134K
- Canadahelps Canadon$134K
- Chisholm Thomson Family Foundation$100K
- Burgundy Legacy Foundation$60K
- The Consecon Foundation$50K
- The Michelle Koerner Family Foundation$50K
- Canadian Online Giving Foundation$274
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $350,000 and over3 positions
- $300,000–349,9991 position
- $250,000–299,9996 positions
- Permanent full-time positions177
- Total compensation, all staff$21.2M
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Geoffrey Matus (director); Meric Gertler (director); Martha Tory (director); Annette Verschuren (chair); Stefan Larson (director); Molly Sandra Shoichet (director); Prashant Shanker Pathak (director); Andrew Chisholm (director); Claudette McGowan (director); Allen Lau (director); Diane Kazarian (director); Taki Sarantakis (director); Alison Nankivell (ceo).
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from Mars Discovery District’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 876682717RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.